Rasmus entered the class and everyone was still waiting for him to read their master plan. He grabbed the paper, folded it, and put it in his suit's pocket, confusing all the students.
"Today, we will have physical training. Change your attire and meet me in the training hall in half an hour," Rasmus said and then left the classroom.
Everyone sighed because they had been waiting for nothing. They left the classroom and went to the dorm to change their attire. They were curious as to why Rasmus suddenly wanted them to do physical training instead of discussing the assignment like the other day.
They all went to the training ground and noticed other classes were using the training hall. There was no space left for them to use the hall, and they saw Rasmus sitting in the spectator seat on the side.
"You guys go and do some warm-ups. I want you to run around the training ground 10 times," Rasmus said as he looked at them.
Maximilian didn't complain and immediately ran to do his lap. Alexander and Valari followed him after. Isador didn't want to lose face and tried to catch up with Maximilian. Aurelia and Monica watched the boys run in the training hall before they turned their gazes toward Rasmus.
"You both can take it easy, but that will affect my judgment. It would be impossible to not underestimate you for the whole year if you take the easy way," Rasmus looked at Aurelia and Monica.
Monica started running and it had been a while since she had any physical training. Aurelia was the same because she always sat in her chair and learned about becoming a Saint. Both of them were unfit for heavy training because they weren't meant to do that.
All the students that were in the training hall couldn't help but look at the powerful figures running around the training ground. They never thought they would see them all together and how they tried to compete against each other. It felt like they were a part of history in the future because they witnessed something exclusive to them in a way.
"Instructor Blackheart!" An instructor shouted as he looked at Rasmus.
The students heard the name, and they all moved their gazes toward Rasmus. They began to whisper to each other because they knew the Blackheart family and the disgrace they did. Nobody liked the name Blackheart because of the rebellion that caused countless innocent lives to die because of it.
Rasmus glanced at the instructor who was calling him, and he could see the smugness on that man's face. He knew that the man was trying to make everyone know about him and tried to put him down to his place as a disgrace and a fallen noble. He tried to remember the names of the instructors and remembered his family name, Sherm, a family that produced a lot of famous scholars.
Rasmus ignored the man and kept observing his students which only made the man annoyed.
"Acting all high and mighty only because you teach those students. I'm going to remind you that everyone here is equal, and you'll learn about it the hard way," the instructor warned and scoffed.
Rasmus kept ignoring the man and didn't even bother to look at his face. Deep down, he couldn't stop smiling and chuckling internally.
Maximilian was the first one to finish the warm-up without breaking any sweat. Isador came in second, and he realized that he needed to improve his physical strength. Alexander and Valari finished together and they both went on all four as they caught their breath.
"Monica is going to faint..." Maximilian pointed out when he watched Monica staggering and could no longer walk properly.
"Aurelia isn't any better," Isador added and watched Aurelia right behind Monica and her face was covered in sweat.
"Let them be," Rasmus approached the boys. "I want to see how far those two can endure this training. They're trying their best and it's their choice," he added as he crossed his arms and watched Monica and Aurelia still compete against each other even in that state.
"Everyone has a few weaknesses, some weaknesses can be fixed, but some people believe they can't because they have weak mentality. With that being said, for the next three days, you will have to beat Maximilian or at least not get overlapped by him in the warm-up every morning before the class starts," Rasmus looked at Isador, Alexander, and Valari.
The three of them looked at Rasmus in disbelief because Maximilian was a beast when it came to physical strength. As a Northern Star, he could easily do dozens of laps without breaking a sweat. It would be impossible, but they didn't want to complain because that just proved Rasmus's words.
"Give them hell," Rasmus patted Maximilian's left shoulder with a smirk painted on his face.
Maximilian nodded and smirked as he looked at Isador. He wanted to give Isador the kind of hell that he endured as the Northern Star.
Rasmus watched as Monica and Aurelia finished the seventh lap, but they both collapsed not long after. Their legs had given up and they couldn't deal with any more stress. They started crawling which was embarrassing to watch.
The other students looked at the future Saints that were crawling on the ground. They didn't expect there to be a cruel and heartless instructor in the academy. They started hating Rasmus because of what he did even though they didn't know what had happened.
"Are you both done?" Rasmus looked down at both of them, going down on one knee. "Is this too hard for both of you, ladies? Should I let you rest and drink some water?" he asked with a cold expression.
Monica shook her head, and Aurelia didn't want to lose to Monica, so she also shook her head. They tried to get up but their legs had completely given up.
"Then crawl until you finish the remaining laps," Rasmus said and walked away, ignoring the hateful gazes from the students.
"That's too much, Instructor Rasmus! They're women, and they can't be compared to us," Isador protested as he looked at Rasmus in disbelief, raising his voice and glaring at him.
"Do you hear that Aurelia?" Rasmus looked over his right shoulder. "Isador said it's because you're a woman that you're weak."
Aurelia slowly turned her head and gave a dead stare at Isador. Isador was surprised and somehow it felt like he was in the wrong while it was obvious that Rasmus was the one who was at fault.
"You need to understand that not everyone appreciates an act of pity from someone else. You're just belittling her," Rasmus glanced coldly at Isador.
The whole training ground was focused on Aurelia and Monica who were crawling. Isador, Maximilian, Alexander, and Valari couldn't do anything, and they knew that helping those two wasn't the right thing to do.
"Do you want to help them?" Rasmus asked his students as he crossed his arms. "If you want to help them, then you should know their struggles. Run for another ten laps until your legs give up. Crawl with them, show them that they're not alone," he said with a serious expression.
Maximilian didn't hesitate and started running as fast as he could until he reached his limit. Isador and the others also did the same because they wanted to show Aurelia and Monica that they weren't alone.
Alexander and Valari could only do five laps, and their legs had given up so they started crawling to finish the remaining five laps. Isador collapsed on the seventh lap and started crawling on the eighth lap. On the other hand, Maximilian had done ten laps and added five extra laps until he finally collapsed.
The other students didn't dare to be on the training ground because the six most respected and powerful students were crawling on the ground. They felt bad for standing around them, so they went to the sides to sit down and watch those six students finish their training.
Lenin heard about what was going on on the training ground and checked it out with her own eyes. She was surprised to see the six students crawling with sweat all over their red faces. She then looked at the cold stare that Rasmus gave his students.
"Chancellor, this isn't right," the instructor said as soon as he approached Lenin.
"They can stop, but they're unwilling to do so," Lenin responded. "I don't see anything wrong with these, especially seeing the six of them crawl together which is something that the world should witness. You will never see anything like this where the Suncrown and the Wyverncrest, the Angelis and the Sancticus moved side by side."
The instructor clenched his fists, hating the fact that Lenin, the Chancellor of the Academy showed her favorability toward Rasmus. He who had been an instructor for 3 years had never been treated like that by Lenin.
"Yes, Chancellor..." The instructor responded as he bowed his head, holding his anger in his voice.